Bolivia Oil and Gas Report

About This Report

Abstract:

Data from Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) shows natural gas discoveries in Bolivia totalled about -.-trn cubic meters in ----, underscoring the country s below ground promise. However, we caution that significant operational headwinds will persist given the company s shrinking profits and budget amid the global sector downturn. ...As the first such project of its kind in Bolivia, the USD---mn Rio Grande LNG facility will support growing demand for gas in rural communities which lack access to the country s vast resource due to a insufficient pipeline connectivity. In February, the Bolivian government signed a much-anticipated series of agreements with Russian oil and gas major Gazprom covering exploration, production and transportation of hydrocarbons as well as construction and upgrading of associated infrastructure. The memorandum also included updates to Bolivia s natural gas development plan through ----, implying added involvement by the Russian firm. In March, the joint venture between PdVSA and YPFB to drill the Lliquimuni C X-- well in the La Paz region came up dry, with the well failing to yield any commercially viable quantities of oil and gas. The project had been touted as highly promising by President Evo Morales prior to its development.

...Bolivia s hydrocarbons endowment was considered modest until the late-----s, when a series of large discoveries in the Tarija region established natural gas as the single largest industry in the country, and propelled Bolivia into the ranks of Latin America s energy exporters. Lucrative long-term export agreements with Brazil and Argentina followed. ...Lucrative long-term export agreements with Brazil and Argentina followed. However, in late ---- confidence in the sector was damaged when a report by US-based consultancy Ryder Scott prepared for the Bolivian government in mid-September put Bolivian proven gas reserves at ---bcm, a third of the level cited in official estimates. In November ----, the president of state-owned YPFB, Carlos Villegas, finally acknowledged the report s findings, and reserves estimates were cut in April ----. ...YPFB has said that current reserves are sufficient to maintain production until ---- but a study by a former energy minister concluded that production could be at risk as early as ----.

...Sinopec s ----day -D seismic survey of the Madre de Dios basin by the Beni River is reportedly ongoing. The survey will target a ---km area and is due for completion by year-end ----. ...

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